Notes from the noodle factory: 21st-Century librarianship in search of new paradigms

Abstract

n his 1976 dedication of the Connecticut College library, Kurt Vonnegut compared a library to a noodle factory, noting that in a society where many people do not really enjoy reading,"Noodles are okay. Libraries are okay. They are rather neutral good news." It was an indifference, however, that could be tolerated three decades ago when libraries still maintained primacy as central repositories of information. In contrast, in this era of existential crisis and as libraries scramble for "relevance," in face of a crisis of definition and mission, the urgent question then arises: What new paradigms must be formulated to define the mission of the 21st-century library and delineate how that mission can better support both education and culture?